A watercolour and felt-tip painting by Salvador Dalí, bought for £150 at a house clearance sale in Cambridge, has sold at auction for £45,700. The work, titled 'Old Sultan', was identified as a lost illustration from a series the surrealist artist intended to create in 1966 based on The Arabian Nights.
Cambridge antiques dealer John Russell discovered the piece two years ago while browsing the sale of a London garage's contents. He spotted Dalí's signature in the corner and Sotheby's stickers on the back, but initially suspected it might be a forgery. On a whim, he bid £150, with only one other bidder dropping out.
Russell spent over £4,000 authenticating the painting and researching its provenance. The work was confirmed as an original Dalí illustration by auctioneers Cheffins, who handled the sale. Brett Tryner, a director at Cheffins, described it as a 'Marmite picture' that attracted incredible interest.
The painting sold to an overseas buyer on Friday. Russell said he felt 'over the moon' when the hammer went down, ending two years of uncertainty. 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling,' he told the Guardian.
